Dr Philip Nitschke has issued a stark warning to people who want to use the Sarco suicide pod
The inventor of the controversial suicide pod has issued a chilling warning as a couple from the UK are set to become the first Brits to use the device.
Swiss company The Last Resort specialises in providing local euthanasia treatments to its patients while also being home to the Sarco death capsule.
Dr Philip Nitschke – known as ‘Dr Death’ – is responsible for creating the device which promises a painless method of suicide.
The assisted suicide method has been controversial (ARND WIEGMANN/AFP via Getty Images)
How does the suicide pod work?
The way it works is a patient lies down in a 3D-printed capsule that contains a canister of liquid nitrogen.
The 10-minute process rapidly decreases oxygen levels in the capsule as patients fall unconscious within one minute and are dead nine minutes later.
Dr Nitschke’s warning
Nitschke has issued a stark warning to people who would like to undergo this treatment, saying: “Once the button is pressed, there is no way back.”
It sounds like common sense, but people obviously need to be sure before they use it.
Dr Philip Nitschke is known as ‘Dr Death’ (JASPER JUINEN/AFP via Getty Images)
First British couple to use the suicide pod
A couple from Suffolk – Peter, 86, and Christine Scott, 80 – are set to become the first Brits to use it.
The pair plan to travel to Switzerland following Christine’s early-stage vascular dementia diagnosis.
Former RAF pilot Peter told the Daily Mail: “We have had long, happy, healthy, fulfilled lives but here we are in old age and it does not do nice things to you.
“The idea of watching the slow degradation of Chris’s mental abilities in parallel to my own physical decline is horrific to me.
“Obviously I would care for her to the point I could not, but she has nursed enough people with dementia during her career to be adamant she wants to remain in control of herself and her life.
“Assisted dying gives her that opportunity and I would not want to go on living without her.
“We understand other people may not share our feelings and we respect their position.
A couple are signing up to become the first Brits to use a controversial double suicide pod (ARND WIEGMANN/AFP via Getty Images)
“What we want is the right to choose. I find it deeply depressing we can’t do that here in the UK.
“Yet look at the alternative. The chances of getting prompt NHS treatment for the ailments of old age seem pretty remote so you end up trapped by infirmity and pain.
“I don’t want to go into care, to be lying in bed dribbling and incontinent – I don’t call that a life.
“Finally, the Government swoops in to take your savings and your house to pay for it all.”
Christine added: “It’s a lovely life but I have this diagnosis, and that’s crystallised our thinking.
“Medicine can slow vascular dementia but it can’t stop it. At the point I thought I was losing myself, I’d say: ‘This is it, Pete, I don’t want to go any further’.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.
A Swiss official has warned against the use of suicide pods, following news that the first person is set to use the device.
Assisted suicide has been legal in the European country since 1942, with personal choice and control of the dying process being key points among supporters of the method.
Swiss law actually states that people looking to end their lives must be of sound mind and not come to this decision through ‘selfish reasons’.
It’s a lot of boxes to tick, but with most other countries in the world having stricter rules on this, people often travel to Switzerland to legally die by suicide – and they are known as ‘suicide tourists’.
Suicide pods are the latest method in assisted suicide. (Exit International)
The creator of the ‘suicide pod’ has been said to have ‘glamourised’ the act of taking your own life, with the first person set to use the device in assisted suicide just next week.
It offers the user a painless death that can happen within just 10 minutes of entering the pod.
The Sarco pod is 3D-printed capsule that is so revolutionary that some have even described it as the ‘Tesla of euthanasia‘.
However, these technological advances could bring about some legal issues, if public prosecutor Peter Sticher is to be believed.
According to Sticher, anyone assisting a patient to use these pods could be set to spend up to five years in prison.
This news comes following reports from the Swiss media that the pods are set to be used by the masses, if they so please.
Dr Philip Nitschke, now known by many as ‘Dr Death’, revealed that the first patient was set to use it next week in a post shared on an online forum on 10 June, explaining it would take place in Switzerland ‘in the next few weeks’.
The device was originally not found to violate any Swiss laws, however, prosecutor Sticher warned Dr Nitschke in a letter that he would ‘absolutely’ face ‘serious legal consequences’ if the device were to be used.
In the letter, he detailed that ‘there is no reliable information about the method of killing.’
A review by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that if the device malfuncitoned, it could fail to make the patient unconscious, resulting in a painful death.
Sticher further added that it is also ‘completely unclear who has control over which mechanical process during the dying process’.
Dr Death could be in trouble with the law if he goes ahead with the procedure. (Exit International)
Speaking about the pod, Nitschke, who is also the founder of the pro-euthanasia group Exit International, explained: “It can be in an idyllic outdoor setting or on the premises of an assisted-suicide organisation, for example.”
He also has plans to bring them to the UK.
Nitschke explained that the Sarco pod works by flooding the chamber with nitrogen, reducing oxygen levels so rapidly that the individual quickly loses consciousness.
They experience this within the first minute, and will have a ‘peaceful, reliable, and drug-free’ death within 10 minutes.
The team at Exit International has even made sure the Sarco pods can be activated via voice control and eye movement for those who have very severe illnesses and mobility issues, which means they cannot vocally communicate.
The pods, activated via a button, blink or gesture, also have an emergency button and escape route in case users change their minds.
Swiss law and Article 115 of the penal code state that individuals can assist in another person’s suicide as long as the motive for doing so is not ‘selfish’.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
